Cahill relishes hot conditions

Rather than shirk the challenge, Qantas Socceroos star Tim Cahill is relishing the chance to represent his country in the Omani heat on Friday evening.

Rather than shirk the challenge, Qantas Socceroos star Tim Cahill is relishing the chance to represent his country in the Omani heat on Friday evening.

On the back of a challenging domestic season in England-s much colder climate, Cahill has arrived in the Gulf eager to experience the scorching Muscat temperatures.

Seldom has the mercury dropped below 35°C throughout the Qantas Socceroos- time in the Omani capital, but Cahill is looking forward to the beating Oman and the elements at the Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex on Friday.

“For me it-s fantastic, I-m embracing this hot weather,” said Cahill.

“I play in a pretty cold climate so I-m enjoying it.

“Every team has to come here and play so the main thing is to get the most out of it, if you can play in this weather, you can play in anything.

“Enjoy it, get a bit of a tan and hopefully get the right result.”

Cahill was used only sparingly in Australia-s friendly fixture against Denmark in Copenhagen at the weekend, but will be hoping to play a key role on Friday.

Long Australia-s go-to man in pressure situations, Cahill-s influence could be crucial against Oman - an opponent he has scored against twice previously.

Indeed, in testing conditions it will be the experience of Cahill and the like that Australia will draw upon on Friday, with the 55-time capped Qantas Socceroo happy to boast what will be one of Australia-s strengths against Oman.

“I think the experience of what some of us lads have is going to play a key part,” said Cahill.

“Over 95 minutes, I think it-s going to be important that we keep our heads.

“It-s not really a rush that we need to win the game as soon as possible because you see in some games, you concede early and you-re against the eight ball and from then on, it-s eleven men behind the ball.

“We-re going to have to be quite tactical and clever but at the same time, Holger has his ways of breaking teams down and we-ve got a decent squad so hopefully we can do it.”

The Qantas Socceroos begin their final phase of qualifying for the 2014 FIFA World Cup with a clash against Oman in Muscat on Friday, 8 June. Kick off is at 5pm local time. (Kick off is at 11pm AEST).

Soon after, the Qantas Socceroos will host Japan in their first home fixture of the fourth stage of Asia-s FIFA World Cup qualification process on Tuesday, 12 June at Brisbane-s Suncorp Stadium. Kick off is at 8pm.